The Hurting Girl
by The-Crying-Girl-in-the-Rain
Summary: The Story of the D2 tribute Clove. It starts before the Games when Cato and Clove are little. Ok I know my summary sucks, but I promise the story will be great. :)
1. Part 1

The corridors were bustling and busy. I had tried pushing my way through them, but soon given up. Most people here were much stronger than me. After all, this was only my first day here, and already I was learning not to push around the older kids. I was, of course, in District 2's training academy. This was where all kids between the ages of 12 and 18 came to be coached in the art of survival, so whichever two of us got picked at the reaping that year would have a decent chance of coming home a victor. Kids here were ruthless. Kids here had no mercy. I had seen The Hunger Games on the small T.V back at home, and I had been shocked at how merciless they were. They killed as if they didn't care, as if they had no feelings. And now, I was going to have to become one of these kids. I gritted my teeth, and followed the crowd to my first class.

Our first class was the art of Knife Throwing. I was pleased, as this was the thing I was most looking forward too. As I entered the classroom, I had a good look at my classmates. Three pretty brown haired girls stood in one corner, giggling and blowing kisses across the room. I followed the direction in which they were blowing them, and found myself staring into the face of the most handsome boy I had ever seen in my life. His hair was carefully styled and his eyes were blue and piercing. I immediately found myself staring. "Look away, Clove!" I told myself crossly. A girly little wuss was NOT the impression I was attempting to make on my first day at the academy. I dragged my eyes away from the gorgeous sight and saw one pale looking girl standing by herself at the back of the classroom. I gave her a quick smile and was about to open my mouth to speak when I saw the teacher, Mrs. Black enter the room. I shut my mouth immediately. As much as I didn't want to be viewed as a goody-goody, it also wasn't in my plans to get on the wrong side of the teachers here. However, me and the girl appeared to be the only ones silent in the room. Mrs. Black took a look around, and then, quick as a flash, pulled a knife out of her pocket and threw it across the classroom, narrowly missing a big groups heads. They fell silent immediately.  
"Are you here to gossip or to work?" Mrs. Black inquired icily, looking at the handsome boy. "Work, Mrs Black." He drawled. "Good." She said. "Now lets get started. Each of you needs a partner to work with in this class. You will pick a name" she said, producing a glass bowl with slips of paper in it, "out of this. Girls will pick. All the names in here are boys names." Everybody around the class groaned collectively. The three brunettes were staring at each other desperately, as if separation from the other two would kill them all simultaneously. "Right." Said Mrs Black, ignoring the groan. "Lets start from the beginning." She picked up a sheet of paper and started reading names off it. "Erin Anikan" she read. A big-boned blonde from the big group across the room emerged and shoven her hand into the bowl (which was beginning to remind me of a reaping ball.) "Marcus Fern" she read in a bored voice. The pair moved off to the other side of the room and watched the rest of us get paired up. "Isobelle Stern." was the next name. The quiet redhead girl moved to the front and gracefully picked a slip out of the bowl. "Carlos Ray" she read, and a huge black-haired hulk went and joined her. "Amy Stone." She called. The tallest of the three brunettes went up to the front and picked a slip. She looked at it eagerly and then sighed. "Ben Harman." She muttered grumpily and stomped off with him, attempting to make eyes at the tall handsome boy. My attention began to drift as more names got called, and I was almost asleep when a sharp voice cut through my daydreams. "Clove Greenleaf." Called Mrs Black. I made my way up to the front and picked a slip. "Cato Jet" I read. A large gasp of horror went round from all the remaining females in the class as the tall handsome boy joined me. But I couldn't think of this as a good thing. How was I ever going to concentrate now, with him anywhere near me?


	2. Part 2

I wasn't in a very good mood after the knife throwing lesson. True, I had been the best there, and true, Cato wasn't TOO distracting, but I was now getting killer looks of the three brunettes, who looked like they could turn pretty nasty if I got on the wrong side of them. I sighed, and pulled out my timetable and started to read what I had next while I walked. Inevitably, I banged into something. "Watch it!" came a voice and I looked up, trying not to show how scared I was. However, I did a double take as I found myself staring into the eyes of my big brother, Shane. "You alright, Clovey?" he whispered urgently and then helped me up. "Better run along now" he smiled. I got up off the floor and made my way to my next lesson; Snares.

I got there feeling even worse than before. I knew that I would be awful at this kind of thing, and showing your weakness in front of the class probably wasn't the wisest thing to do. I entered the classroom, and saw to my dismay that partners had already been sorted out. That meant that none of the lesson would be wasted. I took one look at the pairings and my heart sunk like a stone. Because the person I was paired with, was the irritating brunette, Amy Stone.  
It took me a couple of seconds to realise that I wasn't worst off. The pale, shy girl names Isobelle was paired with Cato, who looked like he would never be able to make snares to save his life! As soon as we got started, I realised that annoyingly, Amy was actually pretty good at this. And I, on the other hand, completely sucked. Amy was getting really stressed at me when I wasn't getting it right, and I could feel my anger levels rising. On the last station, I could hold it in no longer. "Can't you see, you do it like this, you stupid girl? Don't you know anything? Oh, forgive me, of course you don't! You are a Greenleaf, and we all know that they aren't exactly renowned for their brains, are they now?" She gave a little giggle, and I stared straight in to her eyes. "What did you just say?" I whispered angrily. "Oh you heard it right." She giggled. In one swift movement I kicked over her precious snare and held her arms behind her back, twisting them slowly as I spoke. "You never," I growled, "Insult my family in front of me. Understand?" Amy moaned with pain, and her face was going a slight purplish colour. By now, most of the class was watching, including Mr Wilding, the teacher. I had heard that teachers here liked a good fight. I carried on twisting Amy's arm with a nasty grin on my face. And then, suddenly…CRACK. I jumped away from Amy in surprise and she ran at me, holding her broken arm with the other hand. I braced myself for the fight, but she stopped, right by my ear. "This isn't over, Greenleaf." She muttered and ran out the classroom, the other two brunettes following her hot on her heels. Only then did it dawn on me. What had I done? How much trouble was I going to get in? And, most importantly, had I made a bad choice of enemy?


	3. Part 3

The next lesson went by in a blur. I was getting a lot of stares from my other classmates, and I couldn't quite work out what they meant. But the thing that was preying on my mind most was; Was Amy Stone actually more vicious than she looked? Had I completely thrown myself in at the deep end? I had no idea. But I had a feeling that it wouldn't be too long before I found out.

After lunch I saw that we had Swordmanship. Great. Another thing that I was sure I was going to be rubbish at. I dumped the rest of my foul-smelling school lunch in the bin and made my way right across the school to the Swordsmanship hall.  
As soon as I entered, I could tell something was different. The looks I was being given were admiring, and, well, I was actually being noticed. I saw the girl named Isobelle standing in the corner alone again, and was about to make my way over to her, when I felt a firm hand on my shoulder. I turned round, and to my surprise, found myself looking at Cato Jet. "Hey, Clove." He drawled. I gave him a quick smile. "You wanna, partner up this lesson?" he asked in a don't-carey way, his blue eyes staring straight into mine. I glanced back at Isobelle. I had been really hoping to make friends with her this lesson, and I could tell that Cato was offering me more than a lesson partner. Say yes, and you will join this big group of feared people, where you would be considered the "top of the heap." Say no, and nobody is there to help protect you from Amy, and the only friend you will ever get is Isobelle. Isobelle! My insides clenched. Why must it be like this? I couldn't choose between lots of friends or just Isobelle! Its just wasn't fair! But, as I was beginning to learn, nothing was fair in this place. "Fine." I said to Cato. "But you'd better be good at this."


	4. Part 4

As I left the academy and began to walk home, my head was racing. Did I make the right choice, deserting Isobelle? Did I really HAVE a choice? Would Amy not come after me now I was friends with Cato and his gang? Were Amy and the other two brunette's bad enemies to make? As I walked into the park that stood halfway between my home and the academy I suddenly got knocked off my feet and sent sprawling backwards into a hedge. I knew that this was no accident. Amy had told the truth. She wasn't going to let it go. I sat up, and was immediately seized by the two brunettes. Amy was sitting in front of me, her pretty face contorted into a twisted smile. "Here's the deal, Greenleaf. You leave Cato alone. I leave you alone. Simple as that."  
"What?" I gasped in surprise. Surely she couldn't think…no…that wasn't possible. "I saw you coming on to my boy, Cato. He's taken." She said matter-of-factly. "Well what if he's not?" I replied snarkily. Cato sure didn't look like he was enjoying Amy's attention earlier. I saw Amy's boot just a second before it hit me in the face. "No questions." She snarled. "He's mine." She was just about to return for the second blow when a familiar voice came from outside in the park. There was no mistaking it. It was Cato's. Quick as a flash, Amy jumped to her feet, and ran out to the park. "Cato, Cato!" She cried, and I could vaguely see her shoving herself into his arms. "…Amy?" Cato said, startled. "Amy, what are you doing?" he shoved her off of him. "Why did you just run out of that hedge? And why do you have blood…" his voice tailed off, and before I knew it, he was running in my direction. The two brunettes let go of me and scampered off, as did Amy. I was just getting up to do the same, when Cato's voice came from behind me. "Hey." I spun round, and smiled at him. I thought I owed him at least this much. "You okay?" he asked his deep voice full of concern. "Yeah, I'm good" I replied quickly. "Anyway, I've gotta get home." I said, pulling on my backpack. "I'll walk you." Said Cato in his gorgeous velvety voice. "No, it's ok." I argued. "Seriously." I gave him one more smile and left the park. But he started running after me. "Clove!" he shouted. "Wait up!" So I waited. Cato was a fast runner, it didn't take him long to get to me. "What did Amy say to you?"  
"She warned me to stay away from you, because apparently you are hers." I said bitterly, kicking a pebble at my feet. "Well…that's not true, Clove. Remember that." He looked at me meaningfully, and then ran back off into the distance.


	5. Part 5

I entered the house and slammed the door behind me. "Mum, I'm home!" I shouted, and made my way into the dining room, where I knew that I would find my mother. I came into the room and smiled at her tentatively. She took one look at me and started bawling.  
Don't worry; I'm not as disgusting as I sound. My mother has a memory problem; basically she can never remember who me or my brother are. My dad is the only one she trusts. It's hard sometimes, when you know that your own mother cannot recognize you, but we cope. We can't afford a doctor, so chances are she is going to stay like that forever. I try not to show it, but it upsets me so much. I lie awake in my bed at night, sobbing my heart out, crying for the mother who doesn't know her own daughter.

I made my way upstairs, pausing next to my brother's room. I heard a couple of voices and realised that he had some friends round. I decided to let him be. I walked up right to the very top of the house, where the attic room is, which happens to be my room. I pushed open the door, collapsed on my bed and fell asleep almost immediately.  
My dream was strange that night. I dreamt that I was throwing knives at Amy, and every single one was hitting her. She then trapped me in a snare and Cato came and freed me with his knife. When I woke up the next morning though, I remembered none of it.  
The walk to the academy was terrifying. I kept visualising Amy jumping out from behind all the bushes and trees, but luckily, she appeared not be doing so.  
I got to the academy and made my way to our first lesson; the study of plants. As soon as I entered the classroom I was greeted by a girl called Carla, who offered to be my partner in this class. I accepted her offer, and as soon as we were given instructions, we got started.  
I was annoyed to see Amy in class today. I was hoping that as I broke her arm she might stay at home for the day, but that didn't appear to be happening. As a class, we collected our data on the plants, and came to the conclusion that a thin, spindly stalk named Conifferous was able to kill with just two strands. As we stood up to leave the classroom, I saw Amy look around urgently, and then quickly sneak a few strands into her pocket, which left me with the question; What could Amy possibly be planning?


End file.
